3.5 stars rounded up

My name is Isabel Butterworth. Your name is Isabel Butterworth. We're around the same age. We live in the same town. But your life is more exciting than mine, Isn't it? Richer, dramatic, more fulfilling. Imagine if I'd never found out about you.... But I have. Because someone mistook me for you. And now I can't stop thinking about you because I know you're in trouble. You need my help. And I need a way to get to know you.

We get an insight into hearing loss at the beginning of this book. It's also quite an intense read. The pace is fast, it's filled with twists and devious characters. The story is told from Izzy and Isabella's perspectives. This story covers murder, grief and stalking on the internet. There's also twists and secrets. I did at times find it hard to keep track of who was who, so I took off half a star for that reason. Otherwise, this was a gripping, well written story that held my attention throughout.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AvonBooksUk and the author #NellPattison for my ARC of #FriendsDontLie in exchange for an honest review.

Oooh this is a tricky one. Imagine if your name- which seemed unique- is also the name of someone else, someone very different. That's what's Isabella Butterworth has discovered. Her own life is very small and circumscribed while the other Isabella lives with her family and,. it seems, has an enemy. No spoilers from me. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A page turner.

Wow a fast paced and gripping story about 2 women called Isabella Butterworth and their lives. One becomes obsessed as she thinks the other woman is in danger as 2 women are murdered she starts to dig deeper loved the characters and the twists and turns makes this a real page turner.
The twist at the end I did not see coming.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley & Avon Books UK,

A gripping story that kept me guessing throughout. My only criticism would be that there’s not enough conversations in the book. I found it quite unique in its story, I don’t remember reading anything like it before.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved reading Friends Don’t Lie by Nell Pattison.

I was on the edge of my seat reading this psychological thriller that had oh so many twists and turns and OMG jaw dropping moments.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Avon Books, for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This psychological thriller follows two women named Isabella Butterworth, both living in the same town. One calls herself Izzy and the other Bella.

One night Izzy is confronted by a stranger demanding to know where Isabella Butterworth is living, he doesn’t recognise her, so she knows it isn’t her he is after. However, she finds herself feeling a bit scared not only for herself but the other Isabella.

She decides that she must track down Bella to warn her, but before she knows she is caught up in a trail of lies, secrets and murder.

Can she warn Bella before it’s too late? What other secrets will be revealed?

This psychological thriller certainly messed with my head a little, not only with the stalking that goes on but with a section towards the end which I don’t think I have still got my head around.

This author usually has a character who is deaf or losing their hearing, which this book does too. I like this as it shows how having hearing difficulties doesn’t affect who or what you can do with your life.

You get to hear from both Izzy and Bella as the story goes between them at different intervals throughout. I do like books that do this, as you get to see from both points of view and understand the actions of some of the characters.

Overall, a psychological thriller with plenty of lies, secrets and murder.

I loved Nell Pattison's previous book Hide so there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read an advance read copy of Friends Don't Lie.

Friend's Don't Lie was a slippery read, twisty and just when you think you have grasped where it is heading that is when a twist comes and sucker punches you.

Isobella Butterworth alone in Lincoln, she works from home and has no close friends until one day Isobella discovers that there is another woman in the city with the same name. The woman may be in danger and Isobella decides to warn her. She doesn't feel like she can just do it out of the blue though so she decides to lean as much as she can about the other Isobella by becoming her friend.

Bella's life seems perfect to Isobella but we soon learn that appearances can be deceptive.

"The other Isobella is beautiful, not in a carefully posed Instagram sort of way but with an effortless, natural grace that makes me feel like a baby elephant in comparison."

There were so many things about this book that were creepy, one of the main things that added to my sense of unease was the choice of location: Lincoln. The city I live in. It was so weird to read a book and see the names of places I know so well: Brayford Wharf, Steep Hill and The Barge.

"Our conversation drifts to the local area, and the parts of it we love and hate. Lincoln is a beautiful city, and we have a lot of cultural opportunities as well as good restaurants, but attempting to park anywhere can be a nightmare. Busy times of year, like when the Christmas Markets are on, are also frustrating. We compare tales of entitled tourists and laugh together, which is nice."

I thought I knew where Friends Don't Lie was heading but I was so wrong. This book will get your heart going faster than a run up Steep Hill!

Pattison’s best book by far!!!

It has been a long time since a book has dropped such a huge twist without me seeing it coming. My jaw was on the floor!

This book is gripping from the start and is a real page turner, but when the twist hits you won’t know which way is up! I honestly has to stop and think through what I had just read and the implications! So well done and just do sneaky!

It is so hard to write a review without any spoilers. But this is a book about dual identity, mistakes, murder and the lengths you would go to for your family.

Great characters, fast paced plot and an amazing twist. This book has it all!

3.5 stars

Two people with the same name, though they live completely different lives and have never met.... Isabella Butterworth (Izzy) has been mistaken for the other Isabella Butterworth (Bella), and threatened. Knowing that Bella is in trouble, Izzy wants to get to know her, so she can help her.

What follows is Izzy trying to infiltrate Bella's life, but the deeper she gets into her life, the more confused she is... And I assure you, Izzy ain't the only confused person. Phew.....

Initially this is quite slow moving, so much so, I wanted to put this book down multiple times. I felt like it was super predictable, so why bother.... Then there's a big reveal and I was like WHAT??? Then another plot twist....and another....and it made it worthwhile that I had pushed through. I did find some of the twists VERY confusing, so much so that I need to go back and reread some of it, because I was utterly perplexed and confused.

I love it when an author is prepared to give us an ending that may not please everybody, one that isn't perhaps the perfect ending, and Nell went there, so I appreciated that. Everything is seemingly unrelated, but it all ties together in a very unexpected way.

I do feel that the beginning was just way too slow though, or I'd have been able to give this book at least 4 stars.

I haven't read anything by Nell Patisson before but despite not loving this, I'm still really keen to read HIDE and THE SILENT HOUSE by her. The concept of this book was intriguing: stolen identities, lies upon lies, and two women with the same name, but in my opinion it was far too slow paced for my enjoyment.

Dual perspectives are my absolute favorite, but having them both revolve around a character with the same name was insanely confusing for my tired brain (whether it was Issy, or Isabella, its still the same name). I unfortunately found this to be an incredibly slow burn plot and my lack of attention span just doesn’t work well with these type of paced thrillers.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 @𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡.

I have read everything Nell Pattison has written, and with each novel she gets a little better.....until this one.

Friends Don't Lie is the best novel Nell has written by a country mile.

It's whip smart, cleverly plotted and just impeccably written. To say I was gripped is an understatement. To say I had to repeatedly blink and figure out what the heck was going on at the reveal is extremely accurate. It completely and utterly blindsided me - and I loved it.

I have to say, when I started this book, I wasn't really feeling it. It seemed a bit meh and nothing much was really happening. However, because I'm a fan of Nell's previous books, I pushed on. And boy am I glad that I did!

Around halfway through the book, the twists started to appear and I just couldn't stop reading. The last couple of chapters was when it really started to explode to the point that I'm still trying to process what happened!

It is a slow burn, but if you like that kind of book then I highly recommend giving this one a go!

I just wasn’t really able to get into this one. It sounded a bit like When I Was You by Amber Garza, which was good but dragged on a bit, so I was interested to see if this would be executed similarly. It still just didn’t work for me. I thought a lot of the people were kinda silly and unbelievable. I did like the disability representation. Our main character has hearing loss and it goes into it quite a bit and explains instead of just tossing it out there. I could appreciate how she was trying to navigate her way through an abled world.

Isabella Butterworth is a virtual assistant which seems like a pretty cool gig. She accidentally receives an email from a photographer that’s meant for another woman by the same name. Okay, this is reaching already. This is not like John Smith! Is Isabella Butterworth equivalent to John Smith somewhere across the pond?! Haha, anyway, she ignores it at first but finally her curiosity gets the better of her and she opens it and begins to imagine herself as this Isabella, because her life has been pretty mundane lately. She’s then accosted leaving the house by some weird guy who jumps on women as they exit their doors. He’s saying something about Isabella Butterworth.

What is this other Mrs. Butterworth up to and is there room for two?

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and all Isabella Butterworths for the chance to read and review!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is my first book written by Nell Pattison and I can't wait to dive into the rest of her books.
I have seen so many reviews raving about her, and now I can understand why.

Lots of twists and turns in this one!

Nell Pattison is an auto request book for me when I see them on NetGalley. I love her writing style and the was she melds the stories together. I appreciate that she sheds light in a community that is not written about more, the deaf community. Loved this one.

Isabella Butterworth is mistaken for someone of the same name and soon becomes obsessed with the other woman, especially as she might be in danger. Can she put herself in the other Isabella's life and keep her safe?

Another brilliant book by Nell Pattison, the book was thrilling, tense and exciting, and kept me racing through the pages. Full of twists, turns and absolute shocks. Fantastic, loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

A book based on stolen identities and lies upon lies. There are so many lies going on in this book I was a little confused when all was revealed. We meet 2 women, both named Isabella, but both have huge secrets that get revealed, while one is trying to save the other, the other is keeping is HUGE secret, and then everything blows up in your face, but you don’t expect it. The book drags A LOT, to the point that when the secrets were revealed I wasn’t as interested as I wanted to be. There were points that a new character named Jenny, jumps into the story and even that confused me a little bit. The author did something great here though, they made sure that you stuck around to find out the true identity of one of the characters and to reveal the reasons to the deaths surrounding them.

Isabella Butterworth, resident of Lincoln, NE., with what you would consider to be a pretty uncommon name. Until she starts receiving emails addressed to an Isabella Butterworth that isn’t her. She used to just delete the emails and pay them no attention until she was threatened outside of her flat that made her fear for her life.

She begins to think she should figure out who this other Isabella is, just in case her life is in danger. After much investigating she comes to realize they both live in Lincoln.

She befriends her, with a fake name.
Inserts herself into her life.
Lies to everyone.
But they are all also lying to her.

Things got a little confusing for me switching between the two storylines of both the Isabella’s so it lost a star for me.

The twists in the end I really enjoyed, super face paced read and I was constantly wanting to know what was going to happen and figure out what the heck was going on!

Isabella Butterworth lives quite a mundane life. Her days consist of working from home as a Virtual assistant. She does enjoy her job as she can work hours that suit and don’t have to deal with the dreaded commute every day. She starts getting emails for an Isabella Butterworth but has nothing to do with her. Can they be two women with the same name? It is not that it is a popular name. She disregards them and deletes them, not thinking much about it. Until she goes out one evening to get supplies of junk food and chocolate and meets a man who attacks her and threatens to kill her asking for Isabella Butterworth.
After the incident, shaken up wonders if she should find this other Isabella and warn her of what just occurred. After further investigation through social media, she finds out that she doesn’t live that far away and pretends to be someone else and befriends her. But things don’t go to plan and instead of a positive reaction Isabella just makes things worse.
Thank you, Avon, for a copy Friends Don’t lie by Nell Patterson. I have read previous books from this author, and I really enjoyed them. This however I found to be a different pace to the other books. I found the start to be quite slow and not much happening in it. But as I kept on reading, I got I got intrigued by the storyline until I got to the last third of the book. When I got totally lost in what was happening in the book left me totally confused. I know there is supposed to be lots of twists in the story, but this was too confusing. 3.5 stars from me.

Generally enjoy this authors books,this for me was a slow build up,lots of focus and refocus on ordinary mundane daily tasks etc and wasn’t that keen on either character but a good ending